Portal:Starship Classes

Featured Starship Class

The USS Vesta (NX-94200) is a [[:Category:Vesta Class {{{2}}} | Vesta-class {{{2}}}]] starship commissioned in 2386 under the command of Captain Emily Quinn. She is the first starship to bear the name, as well as the first ship of her class. The Vesta was designed in response to the quantum slipstream drive brought back by the USS Voyager in 2377.

Following the end of the Dominion War, devastating ship losses required Starfleet to recuperate. Instead of rebuilding the fleet with aging designs, Starfleet R&D instead focused on the introduction of new designs, expanding on the existing technology. But the new design push also spread to development of new technology. The return of the USS Voyager in 2377 brought a treasure trove of new technology, most of it barely tested. The quantum slipstream drive, discovered by the Voyager in 2374 and tested early the next year proved to be unstable. Starfleet engineers studied the slipstream data and attempted to improve on the design. While early trials and simulations seemed promising, the only way to prove the design worked was to incorporate it into a complete test-bed vessel.

This led to the development of the [[:Category:Vesta Class {{{2}}} | Vesta-class {{{2}}}]] starship. The first of her class, the USS Vesta (NX-94200), was herald as the Next Great Experiment, similar to the USS Excelsior from a century before. Similar in size to the [[:Category:Sovereign Class {{{2}}} | Sovereign-class {{{2}}}]], the Vesta was a Ship-of-the-Line, capable of performing a multitude of different missions.